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Actually, the U.S. doesn't pay all that much attention to other countries. American news broadcasts don't bring up world news stories very much - barring special reports, they would make up about five minutes of a typical news hour. I've seen NHK news broadcasts, and they're not all that much better. Japanese people don't really concern themselves all that much about the rest of Asia at all.

I'm not a cultural anthropologist, but it's likely linked to the conflict between cultural chauvinism and inferiority complex. As Vexx pointed out earlier, Japanese people entertain quite a few myths about how unique they are; at the same time, they're also strong enough realists that they know that other countries are more successful in many respects. It seems a natural progression from this to wanting to emulate this success.

It's no more difficult to understand than white people wearing urban clothing popularized by black entertainers or Chinese character tattoos.

Que? Japan, of all countries, most certainly doesn't turn up their nose at the U.S. In fact, most Japanese like and are fascinated by all things American. Moreover, the U.S. is Japan's closest (and in a way, only) ally, so there's quite a bit of common interest involved. I'm not sure why you'd think otherwise.

As for the rest,
1. Not all countries like American goods. This is especially true of the more developed countries - witness the spectacular failure of Wal-Mart's attempt to penetrate Germany's market.
2. While the U.S. has always generated a bit of animosity due to its overwhelming power, most of the dislike is caused by American actions. And this isn't restricted to developed countries at all. Note that for similar reasons, in the late '80s, there was a certain amount of dislike, by Americans, of Japan's seeming economic powerhouse status.
3. Most of the world's current dislike for American policies can be directly attributed to the U.S.'s hamfisted adventures post-2001.

i wasn't saying japan turns their noses to america but canada and many of the european countries seem to have that attitude (even far predating 2001 and often having nothing to do with american foreign policy actions other than the cultural encroachment that american trade dominance leads to). that was just something i brought up to further explain why i thought japan was peculiar. your example of america not being welcoming of japan further shows the point i'm trying to make about japan being odd.

and not all countries like all american goods but generally it's still a pretty accurate statement. like i'm sure most of those germans who went to their local german retailers instead of walmart were still purchasing a lot of nike, coke, apple, american music (david hasselhof lol), and so on.

and see the thing is urban clothing becoming popular are easy for me to understand because i'm from north america and see the factors that lead up to these things getting popular. i'm not from japan so i wouldn't know what it is that makes america so popular. actually i don't even know that much about the chinese tats. i have some hypotheses though. america is the lead trading partner of a lot of countries but as said above, the countries are not that high on american-ness. even bringing back up wal-mart in germany or starbucks in china... a lot of the failure of those sorts of things has to do with the balance of the nation rejecting 'americanness' over wanting efficient product.

like indian stuff when it was popular in america the 60's and 70's and afterward is probably related to third world nationalism, postwar nihilism leading to a rejection of western values and all that jazz. it's not really something obvious like you're making it out to be.

and not all countries like all american goods but generally it's still a pretty accurate statement. like i'm sure most of those germans who went to their local german retailers instead of walmart were still purchasing a lot of nike, coke, apple, american music (david hasselhof lol), and so on.

It has less to do with liking that stuff and more to do with cultural dominance. What you're noticing is the illusion globalization represents today: We (and hundreds of third world countries) receive a lot of American cultural influence, and you guys get none at all from us. This is obviously related to the chain of power in the modern world and the wielding of cultural influence as a tool for dominating the economy--dictate what they buy and you will find yourself in a comfortable position of power over their lives

__________________

Place them in a box until a quieter time | Lights down, you up and die.

...
As for the rest,
1. Not all countries like American goods. This is especially true of the more developed countries - witness the spectacular failure of Wal-Mart's attempt to penetrate Germany's market.
...

Well, I want to add something to that point. Having had a Wal-Mart in our town I must say I was very pleased with what they offered. It wasn't US products or such, its been mainly regular european/german goods. Which was also much to the surprising of our american visitors we had. They thought Wal-Mart to be a very low quality store or something. Now in Germany/EU there are rules for everything, so it doesn't wonder that there are also many rules for product quality. And these rules are basically the standard... Wal-Mart could not go below this level, thus the quality of products was relatively high.
Another Wal-Mart tactic is to treat their employees like slaves... this did not work out here, since we have too strong unions and laws.
The most hindering thing was the small market share of Wal-Mart. However, usually the following applies in Germany/EU: The bigger the company the cheaper it can offer products, because it can order huge amounts of goods and often produce goods themselves or in license. Now Wal-Mart tried to be the cheapest and wanted to go below the prices of the local super heavy weight (market share) Metro. That could not work thus Wal-Mart Germany constantly incured a loss. So its not like it didn't work out because american goods are not so much required/needed here, it is because they tried to use american buisness models when having only a small market share in germany. The goods offered in german Wal-Marts contained not more american goods than any other german store/supermarket.

There are apparently some vending machines that dispense canned coffee that is either heated just before release or has some sort of special "heat on open" liner like some chemical hand warmers.
I've seen them portrayed in a few manga and described by visitors. Apparently the things are hot enough to help keep your hands warm on a cold day.

I've never heard of hot coffee being sold in a can, and the hot coffee people buy from vending machines come out in a cup, not a can. When people buy *cold* coffee, then it usually comes in a can.

You may not believe it, Risaa, but there are many "hot coffee in a can" vending machines in Japan. Everywhere. Every block.
There's one like every 30 steps.

There's not a place in a Japanese city where you will walk over a min or two before you come across another vending machine, thanks to the low vandalism crime rate.

It looks like this.
The ones in blue are the "cold drinks", and the ones in red are the "hot drinks".

The cans ARE hot, but not too hot that it burns your hands. They are somewhat insulated.
And yes, they are great hand warmers during winter.
Sometimes, you hold it in your hand to warm your hands up for a while before opening it to drink it

You may not believe it, Risaa, but there are many "hot coffee in a can" vending machines in Japan. Everywhere. Every block.
There's one like every 30 steps.

There's not a place in a Japanese city where you will walk over a min or two before you come across another vending machine, thanks to the low vandalism crime rate.

Hnnn..... I may have just missed the "hot cans" in Korea because I don't drink coffee (coffee ice cream though... quite yummy). I knew the drinks with blue labels were cold drinks and the drinks with red labels were red drinks - I just don't remember seeing cans listed with red labels (in the summertime, which is the only time I really go, you don't want to look at the ones with red labels anyways -- you're already dying of a heat stroke ). Cookies for you. :O

Well, I think it has to do with the particular economic status, but I have also heard that Chinese eats cats and/or dogs. There was an article in the newspaper one time about a Chinese restaurant near my dad's house that was shut down after a health inspection because the inspectors found a dead cat in their freezer. Apparently, it was intended for the owners, not customers (phew!).

I haven't heard about japanese eating dogs or cats, though. Maybe N Koreans (because N Korea is so poor), but I doubt any from S Korea. But that's just my speculation.

Well, I think it has to do with the particular economic status, but I have also heard that Chinese eats cats and/or dogs. There was an article in the newspaper one time about a Chinese restaurant near my dad's house that was shut down after a health inspection because the inspectors found a dead cat in their freezer. Apparently, it was intended for the owners, not customers (phew!).

I haven't heard about japanese eating dogs or cats, though. Maybe N Koreans (because N Korea is so poor), but I doubt any from S Korea. But that's just my speculation.

Korean people do eat dogs, we make a stew out of them and usually eat them in the summer. Unlike the Western people Korean and Chinese (not so sure) think dog as a animal like a pig, well at least that is how I think. Now I really want to know if the Japanese eat dog or not.

Dog meat is supposed to be "energising" and good for building health and strength. Unless you're familiar with the Chinese concept of yin/yang as applied to human physiology and food, you wouldn't understand why some (but not all!) Chinese eat dogs.

(Seriously, more Chinese today see dogs as pets, rather than food. There is an urban myth which says that dogs can smell people who've eaten dog meat before, and scamper away when they smell such people coming. More creepily, you're supposed to be more likely to see ghosts after eating dog meat...)

Back on topic, I'd also be very curious to know if Japanese have similar traditions to dog meat. My guess? Probably not. I get the impression that back in the old days, eating any kind of meat (other than fish and game) is an extreme luxury that only the rich could afford.

I wonder: Did the Japanese even have dogs back in ancient Japan? I always figured that dogs ended up getting imported by Europeans. After all, I've not seen many references to pets in regards to history (for any country).